Pak Judge, Amarinder laud peace efforts
Nawanshahr, July 22
The “vanmahotsav” function here turned out to be a memorable event as Mr Justice Khalil-Ur-Rahman Ramdey, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and the Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, jointly planted a sapling at Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School today and expressed the hope that the tree of peace and love between India and Pakistan would not wither out.

SGPC writes to PM for release of stamp
Jalandhar, July 22
The stand-off between the SGPC and the state government over release of a commemorative postal stamp to mark the 400th year of compilation of Guru Granth Sahib has taken a new turn with SGPC officials writing to the Prime Minister requesting him to release the stamp during his forthcoming visit to Amritsar.

Hawara plotted against Bhaniarawala in Burail Jail
Ropar, July 22
The conspiracy to eliminate Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarawala of Nurpur Bedi was hatched in Burail Jail in Chandigarh by Jagtar Singh Hawara in 1999 along with an accused, Babbla, who was involved in former MLA Bachiter Singh murder case.

Godowns of the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) with over 50,000 mertic tonnes capacity that are lying unoccupied at Pathankot.
— Photo by Jangi

All SGPC chiefs exempted fees of NRI students
Amritsar, July 22
Even as the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission (SGJC) has disqualified beleaguered Bibi Jagir Kaur as SGPC chief for five years for having failed to recover a huge amount of Rs 2.5 crore from the candidates who had got admission to the SGPC-run medical colleges under the NRI quota, its double amount (more than Rs 5 crore) in form of admission fee had been exempted by her (Bibi Jagir Kaur’s) predecessors in the past, which is likely to raise many an eyebrow in the Panthic circles.

SGJC verdict boost Sikhs’ morale: SAD (A)
Mansa, July 22
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) today lauded the decision of the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission
(SGJC) on the SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur and said it would boost the morale of the Sikh community.

Dullo calls meeting
Chandigarh, July 22
The president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee( PPCC), Mr Shamsher Singh
Dullo, has called a meeting of vice-presidents and general secretaries of the party on July 26 here at Punjab Congress Bhavan. Mr Raj Pal Singh, general secretary of the party said the meeting had been called to chalk out various party programmes.

BBMB clarifies on flood in Suketi Khad
Chandigarh, July 22
The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has said that it cannot be blamed for the floods caused in Suketi-khad, a tributary of the river Beas. The flooding had occurred on July 15 due to high intensity of rains during monsoons, said a statement of the BBMB.

Martyr cremated with state honour
Tarn Taran, July 22
Sepoy Satwinder Singh who laid down his life on July 20 in the Poonch Sector in Jammu and Kashmir was cremated at his native village, Jamalpur, near Shahbazpur, with full state honours today.

Man wanted nephew to give up drugs
Chandigarh, July 22
Reacting to a news-item “Drugs come in handy for greedy kin” published in these columns on July 1, a Batala resident, Mr Balwinder Singh Kahlon, has described as baseless the allegations of going against the interests of his nephew Sarabjit Singh.

37 injured as 2 buses collide
Bathinda, July 22
About 37 persons were injured, four of them critically, when two private buses collided head on near Kailevandar village here today.

Mangled remains of a bus after it collided with another bus near Kailevandar village of Bathinda on Friday.
— Tribune photo by Kulbir Beera

Unique parbhat pheri
Phagwara, July 22
Normally ‘parbhat pheris’ (dawn-time perambulations) are associated with religious occasions. However, residents of municipal wards No 9 and 26 today took out to a unique parbhat pheri.

DCs to check nursing institutions
Chandigarh, July 22
To improve the standard of nursing education and to check the mushrooming growth of nursing institutions in the state, the Punjab Government today directed the Deputy Commissioners of all districts to ensure physical verification of all such institutes.

Rally against police action
Amritsar, July 22
The Punjab police today came under criticism at a joint rally of the CPI and the CPM. The rally was held in protest against cane charge on CPI activists by the Chheharta police on July 10.

Employees demand fifth pay panel
Fatehgarh Sahib, July 22
The Punjab State Services Federation has pleaded the case of state employees for granting them various concessions. It has submitted a charter containing 21 demands related to the employees, particularly the constitution of the fifth pay commission and increasing the age of retirement from the existing 58 years to 60, said Mr Charanjit Singh Walia, chairman Punjab Khadi Board, and president of the federation, while addressing a joint convention of employees, farmers and labourers.

Father, son crushed to death
Barnala, July 22
A father-son duo died on the spot when they were crushed under a train at an unmanned level crossing near Ghunas village in the district last evening.

Lance Naik cremated with full honours
Amritsar, July 22
Lance Naik Harjinder Singh, who sacrificed his life while fighting militants in the Suran Kot area of the Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir, was cremated with full honors in Sohal village yesterday.

Strike by chemists against police ‘atrocities’
Tarn Taran, July 22
Chemists of Khemkaran, Valtoha, Bhikhiwind, Khalra, Amarkot, Algon, Ghariala, Sursin, Chabal, Dialpur, Shahbazpur, and Kairon observed a strike in protest against the police “atrocities” and held a protest rally in front of the office of the SSP here today.

Pak intruder shot
Tarn Taran, July 22
The jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead a Pak intruder who entered the Indian side last night in the Khalra sector. The intruder has not been identified.

MLA’s car challaned
Phagwara, July 21
The traffic police, headed by its in charge, Mr Sucha Singh, last night not only removed the red light from the car of a Delhi MLA but also challaned it.

Scribes’ panel to take oath today
Kharar, July 22
A ceremony to install the new team of the Kharar-Kurali-Morinda Union of Journalists, a unit of Chandigarh-Punjab Union of Journalists
(CPUJ), will be organised at the Civil Rest House here tomorrow at 7 pm.

Inside Babudom
Punjab holds back promotions of five IPS officers
Chandigarh, July 22
The Punjab Government, in an apparent bid to curb overstaffing on senior posts, today held back the promotions of five Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, saying there are no vacancies. Only four of the nine officers, who had been short-listed last week, were promoted today.

Heroin worth Rs 5 crore seized
Fazilka, July 22
The BSF recovered heroin worth Rs 5 crore from the border village Jodha Bhaini in Fazilka sector yesterday. According to BSF sources, five packets of heroin (one kilogram each) were recovered from the fields of a farmer identified as Jang Singh of the village. The cost of the packets is said to be about five crore in the international market.

2 cops injured in attack by robbers
Amritsar, July 22
A head constable and a constable of a PCR team were seriously injured when some alleged robbers attacked them during patrolling here late last night.

Xen beaten up by three persons
Tarn Taran, July 22
Mr Rajinder Pal Narula, Additional Superintending Engineer, PSEB, Bhikhiwind, was beaten up on Thursday by three persons when he was going to Khemkaran subdivision for inspection .

Blind murder case solved
Bathinda, July 22
The police has succeeded in cracking a blind murder case with the arrest of a friend of the deceased. Interestingly, the wife of the accused had lodged a complaint in this connection.

Attack on granthi’s family condemned
Abohar, July 22
Various organisations at a joint meeting held under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Mulajam Sangharsh Committee today condemned the attack on the family of granthi Karnail Singh by supporters and members of the managing committee of Gurdwara Damdama Sahib here.

Currency racket busted, 4 held
Fatehgarh, Sahib, July 22
The district police has busted a gang involved in the supply of fake currency as well as in selling smuggled wine by arresting four members of the gang. A Honda City car and fake currency were seized from them.

MBBS (final) students demand grace marks
Ludhiana, July 22
Students of MBBS (final) part II, who took examination conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, in May-June this year, have sought the intervention of the state government to prevail upon the university for granting grace marks so that a large number of them with
supplementaries, could clear the examination.

Seminar on women empowerment opens
Batala, July 22
A two-day national seminar on “Women empowerment: myth or reality” began at the Christian Institute of Religious Studies (CIRS), Baring Union Christian College, here today.

GND varsity teachers’ body poll on
July 26
Amritsar, July 22
A straight fight was likely for the forthcoming Guru Nanak Dev
University Teachers Association elections for 2005-06 slated for July
26. Nearly 300 teachers would exercise their franchise to elect six
office-bearers and the same number of executive members.